Knitting machine and the method of knitting thereon



Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ET AL 2,621,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed sept. 2, 194e 15 sheeisf-speet 1 l /52 /46 I i 89 /45.

Ayenf.

Dec. 16, 1952 E. SBARSBY E1' AL 2,621,499

' KNITTING MACHINE AND THEMETHOD 0F KNITTING THEREON Filed Sept. 2, 1948 15 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors Dec 16, 1952 E. s. BARSBY ET AL 2,621,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed Sept. 2, 1948 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ET AL 2,621,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNlTTING THEREON Filed sept. 2, 194e 15 sheets-sheet 4 Age/nf.

Dcl 16, 1 952 E. s. BARSBY ET AL KNITTING MACHINE `AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON 15 sheets-'sheet ls Filed Sept. 2, 1948 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ET AL KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON is sheetssheet e Filed Sept. 2, 1948l m Q um AN NON QN Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ETAL KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON 15 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Sept. 2, 1948 Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ETAL KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON 15 Sheets-Sheet 8 Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ET AL KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed sept.' 2. 194e 15 Sheets-Sheet 9 Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARSBY ET AL 2,521,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed Sept. 2, 1948 15 Sheets-Sheet lO Aire/Lf.

Dec. 16, 1952 E. siBARsBY ET AL 2,521,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed Sept. 2, 1948 15 Sheets-Sheet l1 Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ETAL 2,621,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THBMETHOD 0F KNIfrTING THEREON l Filed Sept. 2, 1948 15 Sheets-Sheet l2 F/G. 3l,

Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ErAL 2,621,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed Sept. 2, 1948 l5 Sheets-Sheet l5 /NVENTOPS Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARsBY ETAL KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON 15 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed Sept. 2, 1948 INVENTO/PS Dec. 16, 1952 E. s. BARSBY ETAL 2,621,499

KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Filed Sept. 2, 1948 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE KNITTING MACHINE AND THE METHOD OF KNITTING THEREON Application September 2, 1948, Serial No. 47,494 In Great Britain September 22, 1947 l Claims.

This invention relates to knittingmachines, and has for its primary object toprovide an improved and particularly compact wholly automatic full fashioned hosiery machine of fine gauge and comprising a single head adapted to produce fully fashioned stocking blanks having continuously knitted leg and complete heel and foot portions.

According to this invention there is provided a full fashioned knitting machine with a single head characterised by the inclusion of a vertically movable curved needle bed, furnished with an arcuate series of xed spring beard needles.

Advantageously the vertically movable needle bed is in the form of a circle an arc of which is occupied by the series of iixed bearded needles.

For co-operation with the said needles for loop forming purposes the machine is essentially provided with an arcuate series of individually movable instruments, combined with means for actuating some, e. g. alternate ones, of the instruments seriatim to position (sink) yarn between spaced needles, and means for effecting simultaneous actuation of all of the said instruments for ensuring that the yarn is drawn around all of the needles knitting at any one time, an 0peration commonly known as dividing For the sake of convenience in the following further description, such instruments will be referred to as sinkers. f

The loops must, of course, be uniformly drawn around the needles when dividing. Consequently, when effecting simultaneous actuation of the sinkers for dividing, this actuation must be uniform, that is to say, the extents of the radial inward and outward movements of the respective sinkers must, so far as is practicable, be the same. To achieve this resulty it is advantageous to employ individually movable actuating members, adapted to receive operative movements from vertically operable actuating means and to transmit such movements horizontally to the sinkers. The said members `may conveniently consist of suitably iulcrumed bell crank levers.

The improved machine also essentially includes a series of independent beard pressers, one to each needle, arranged in an arcuate series of groups, one `of the pressers of each such group being formed for operation by suitable cam means and adapted to transmit its movean oscillatory cam unit also arranged concentrically with respect to the axis of the machine.

The needle bed with its arcuate series of xed needles is stationary so far as angular movement is concerned, and there are provided in-l dividually operable yarn carriers which. are movable angularly to variable extents, as determined by suitably controlled angularly movable stops, about the axis of the machine. This construction is not only such as to obviate the necessity for yarn carrier bars which project beyond the ends of the needlebar (as in a straight-bar machine) but also enables the control mechanism for the yarn carrier stops to be compactly located at the back of the machine.

For narrowing and widening a fully fashioned hose blank there is provided, for operation'in conjunction with the appropriate yarn carrier stops, mechanism comprising groups of transfer points, arranged at respectively opposite ends of the arcuate series of needles, and adapted to receive knitted loops from appropriate needles and, after lateral displacement thereof conjoint- 1y with vertical movement of the needle bar, to shed such loops for reception by receiving needles. The said transfer points are made iiexible to enable them to be deflected over the needle beards during transfer operations.

The machine head also includes automatically operable mechanism for producing a welt. Preferably this mechanism is combined with ancillary mechanism for producing picot courses.

Now stocking blanks of the kind concerned have heretofore often been produced on full fashioned multiple-head machines capable of producing as many as, say, vtwenty-four blanks at a time. In such a multiple-head machine the knitting operations' at the respective heads are carried on simultaneously, and certain instrumentalities are common at all the heads 'and are controlled by mechanism at the extreme ends of the machine. The long carrier bars for the various components in a multiple-head machine tend temporarily to vary somewhat in length, owing to temperature changes, this resulting at times in inaccurate registration of the co-operating instrumentalities.

Moreover, Yon a multiple-head machine when one head requires attention the remaining heads must necessarily be idle pending required adjustments. l To obviate these, amongst other, disadvantages, single head machines are a desideratum. But, heretofore, single head machines have been designed on the straight-bar principle,

and as a consequence have occupied considerable space. Accordingly, an important advantage arising from the employment of numbers of single head machines constructed with arcuate needle beds in accordance with the present invention, is that economy of space. is effected. This is possible because the improved machine is built about a central axis.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into practical effect, a specific example of the improved single head full fashioned hosiery knitting machine embodying the foregoing and other features of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. wherein,

Figures l and 1A together constitute a vertical sectional view through the head of the said machine,

Figure 2 is a plan view of so much of the machine as is necessary to illustrate the curved needle bed, this view being partly in section and .taken on the line Il-II of Figure 1, that is to say with the upper portion of the head of the machine removed for clarity.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the transfer head for narrowing and widening,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the oscillatory yarn carriers of the machine showing in addition mechanism whereby it is operated,

Figure 5 is a plan View of the upper part of the machine, showing the arrangement of the of the sinkers and associated needle beard pressers and sinker-operating instruments,

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are side elevational views, partly in section, showing successive stages in the cycle of conjoint movements of the sinkers and their operating instrumentalities,

Figure 10 is a fragmentary plan view of cam means whereby the pressers are operated in groups, as will be hereinafter described,

Figure 11 is a detail end View of the sinkers and pressers, as seen in the direction of the arrow B in Figure 6, showing interengagement of the said pressers for operation in a group,

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view of the sinkerpresser bed,

Figures 13-24 are diagrammatic views illustrating successive stages in the conjoint operation of needles and associated instrumentalities in forming a welt,

Figure 25 illustrates diagrammatically the relationship of welt instruments to the needles and sinkers when commencing a welt, and shows the picot instruments inoperative,

Figures 26-28 are further somewhat similar views showing the manner in which a picot course is knitted,

Figure 29 is a detail part sectional view illustrating the mechanism by which the welt and picot instruments are operated,

Figure 30 shows a complete fully fashioned hose blank having a picot edge produced in accordance with this invention,

Figure 3l is a part-sectional view showing a portion of the lower part of the machine head and the controlling mechanism for the needle bed and the sinker operating means,

Figure 32 is a part-sectional side view of the means provided for controlling the transfer head and some of the instruments of the machine,

Figure 33 is a side view of the means employed for operating the swing lever cam ring hereinafter to be described, and

Figure 34 is a part-sectional side view illustrating the control means for the pressers and the yarn carriers.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

The needle bed The needle bed I is in the form of a ring (see Figure 2) which, as shown in Figure 1, has an upwardly extending tricked and drilled segmental portion 2 for reception of a series of fixed bearded needles 3. The bed is tricked at 4 and drilled at 5 and the needles are housed in the manner conventionally adopted in straight bar fully fashioned hose knitting machines. For securing the needles in position within the bed there is provided, again as shown in Figure 1, a steel strap 6 located between axially spaced protuberant portions formed on the segmentally shaped tricked and drilled portion 2, this strap extending over the fronts of the Shanks of the needles 3 and being secured at its opposite ends to the bed by a straining and locking device (not shown).

The needle bed is concentric with respect to the vertical axis of the machine and is movable up and down to impart the required knitting movement to the bearded needles 3. The lower portion of the ring constituting the needle bed I is supported, located and secured upon -a carrier ring 'I. The carrier ring is peripherally recessed at 8 (Figure 1) suchwise as to provide an annular shoulder 9 adapted to locate the needle bed concentrically therewith and to provide a supporting ledge for the bed. The ring 1, moreover, is formed at a location near to the front of the machine with a downwardly extending boss Ill in which is secured the upper end of a vertical shaft I I serving both to locate and to operate the needle bed I. Mechanism presently to be described is provided for action upon this shaft for the purpose of effecting desired vertical movements of the needle bed. In conjunction with this shaft and at a location diametrically opposite thereto, there is provided a ilxed vertical guide I2 (Figure 1A) with the sides of which make contact a pair of rollers I3 and I4 carried by an adjustable block I5 mounted on the carrier ring 1. For effecting adjustment of the block l5 there are provided two screws IG which, as shown more clearly in Figure 1A, are arranged in downwardly directed lugs Il integral with the carrier ring with their leading ends in contact with the block. The purpose of this adjustment is to maintain concentricity of the needle bed with respect to the axis of the machine. The locating and operating shaft II extends through axially spaced bushes I8 integral with a bearing' bracket I9 having bearing fianges 20 the upper one of which is adapted to function as a stop for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

Dividing and Zoop forming For operating ccnjointly with the bearded needles 3 there is provided an arcuate series of sinkers 2|, one to each needle and alternate ones 2id of which function as dividers, these sinkers being mounted in two radially grooved beds 22 and 23 arranged one above the other and disposed at right angles to the axis of the machine. lEach of the sinkers 2| and 2id may be either of the known type having a single loop-forming throat o1 as shown, a divided sinker having two throats.

To the opposite sides of each sinker are attached stiffening pieces 24 (Figure 1). Each sinker, moreover, has two downwardly projecting and spaced lugs 25 provided for engagement with a sinker-operating instrument 26 adapted for actuation suchwise as to impart to the sinker its required radial movements. As depicted in Figures 1, 6, '1, 8, and 9, each sinker-operating instrument 26 is in the form of a bellcrank lever formed with a semi-circular open-ended slot 21 constituting its fulcrum point. At its opposite ends each of the said instruments has substantially ball-shaped formations 23 and 29 designed to operate between parallel engaging faces. Thus, the ball-shaped formation 29 at the end of the vertically disposed arm of the instrument 23 operates in the recess formed by the spaced lugs 25 depending from the corresponding sinker, whilst the formation 28 at the inner end of the horizontally disposed arm of the said instrument operates between cam faces to be referred to later. To the respectively opposite sides cf the vertical sinker-engaging arm of each sinker-operating instrument 26 there are attached two thin plates 35 of a width greater than the length of the aforesaid recess so that they embrace the opposite sides of the lugs 25 and thereby maintain engagement of the instrument with the sinker, laterally. The semi-circular portions of the open-ended slots 21 constituting the fulcrum points of the sinker-operating instruments 25 are seated upon a complementar-ily shaped .protuberant portion 3| of a ring 32 (Figure l) whereby the instruments are permitted rocking movement. To maintain engagement of the instruments 26 with the protuberant fulcrum 3l there is a ring 33 which is formed with grooves 33a, one to each instrument 26, to receive curved portions of the said instruments, the grooves extending tangentially with respect to the curved portions. protuberant fulcrum 3|, and the grooved ring 33 are both attached to the machine bed 34. All of the sinker-operating instruments 26 are rocked together to effect simultaneous radial sliding movements of the sinkers 2i and 2 ld.

For the purpose of sinking the loop, i. e. initially laying yarn between alternate ones of the needles 3, alternate sinkers 2l are acted upon by swing levers 35 which are fulcrumed upon a circular-sectioned arcuate rib 35 (Figure 1) formed on a swing lever carrier ring 31 having tricks 38 cut to accommodate the levers and disposed above the sinkers. Each swing lever 35 is formed at its upper end with a hook-shaped fulcrum portion 33 mounted to swing on the arcuate rib 33. The operative ends 453 of the swing levers 35 are inwardly directed and arranged for contact with the tail ends 4i of the alternate sinkers 2l. For actuating the swing levers 35 there is provided a cam 42 mounted, as illustrated in Figure l, cn an oscillatory swing lever cam ring 43 and adapted for action upon the said levers seriatim. This cam 42 acts upon each swing lever 35 at a location adjacent to the cut portion or trick 38 of the swing lever carrier ring 31. To maintain the hook-shaped fulcrum portions 39 of the swing levers 35 in engagement with the circular-sectioned arcuate rib 38 there is provided a sectional ring 44 having on its underside la, at face 4S which contacts and is tangential with respect to the outer curved edges 46 of the hookshaped fulcrum portions 33.

Independent pressers The machine includes a series of independent The un-cut ring 32 formed with the L 6 beard pressers 41, one to each needle, mounted in the upper sinker bed 23. In this connection each of the pressers 41 has a stepped formation 4B at one side which, and as depicted in Figure 12, provides a slot 49 of a width narrower than that of a presser trick 50 for accommodation of the upper edge of the companion sinker 2| or 2 Id as the case may be. This construction enables the sinkers and the pressers 41 to be actuated independently of each other. Each of the pressers 41 is formed at its operative end with an appropriately shaped portion 5| for contact with the needle beards at required times. Apart from this, the pressers are of two types, viz: one with an upstanding butt 52 on the upper edge of its stem and the other with a plain non-butted stem 53. At its outer end each of the butted pressers is formed With an initially rearwardly directed lug 54 which is split longitudinally, the split portions being bent in such a way as to provide tail formations 55 and 56 extending laterally from opposite sides of the presserat right vangles thereto. Each of the non-butted pressers has formed therein adjacent to its outer extremity an open-ended vertical slot 51 (Figure 6). The pressers are preferably, and as shown in Figures 6, l0 and 11, arranged in groups of three throughout the series, each group comprising one ofthe butted pressers and two non-butted pressers, with the non-butted pressers disposed one at each side of the said butted presser and with the lateral tail formations 55 and 56 of the latter engaged in the vertical slots 51 of the non-butted pressers. By reason of this arrangement all three pressers of a group are moved together when the upstanding butt 52 of the central presser is acted upon.

Housing sinkers and pressers The lower sinker bed 22, which is in the form of a ring, is formed with a concentric downwardly extending annular portion 53 (Figure 1) which is fitted into an annularly recessed upstanding part 59 of the machine bed 34, these two parts being bolted together by means of bolts 60. A segmental portion 6| of the upper horizontal face of the lower sinker bed 22 is cut, as shown in Figure 2, to provide therein radial grooves 62 in which the lower edges of the arcuate series of sinkers 2| and 2 Id are located. The upper sinker bed 23 which also accommodates the pressers 41, and will accordingly for the sake of convenience be referred to as the sinker-presser bed, is likewise in the form of a ring, a segmental portion of the lower horizontal face of which is cut with radial grooves constituting the presser tricks 50 (Figure 12). These grooves are cut to the width of the pressers 41. The -stepped portion 48 of each of the p-ressers 41 therefore in eifect forms one wall of a trick of narrower width to accommodate the upper edge of the companion sinker, as hereinbefore described, the opposite wall of such trick being constituted by the appropriate side of the radial groove 53 in which the presser is located. The upper face cf the sinker-presser bed 23 is annularly recessed as indicated at 63 in Figure 12, the central portion of the bottom of this recess being again similarly recessed at 64 to a greater depth to expose the radial grooves 50.

Fitted within the recessed face of the sinkerpresser bed 23 is a presser operating cam unit comprising concentrically disposed inner and outer radially spaced cam rings 65 and 66 adapted to provide between them, as illustrated in Figure 10, a cam track 61. These cam rings are attached to the underside of and thereby connected by a carrier ring 68 (Figure l) also accommodated in the recessed face. The presser operating cam unit is arranged for limited oscillatory movement relatively to the sinker-presser bed 23. The opposed edges of the cam rings 85 and 66 are formed with arcuate series of oppositely cut saw teeth 65a and 66a constituting cam formations adapted as and when the presser operating cam unit is oscillated, to act upon the ends of the presser butts 52 projecting upwards through the exposed radial grooves 50 for the purpose of imparting to the pressers 41 their required endwise movements. Each pair of opposed saw teeth 65a, 66a is for action upon one presser butt 52 and therefore actuates three pressers 41 in all as shown in Figure 6. As three pressers are actuated by one butt only, the pitch of the saw teeth can equal one group of pressers, this allowing a sufiicient length of cam surface for adequate endwise movement of the pressers when the oscillatory presser operating cam unit is operated. To retain the presser-operating cam unit within the sinker-presser bed 23 the recessed face 63 of the latter has attached thereto an annular cover plate 69. The lower sinker bed 22 and the sinkerpresser bed 23 are spaced apart axially and accurately located concentrically by means ot a segmentally shaped spacing and locating piece 13 secured between the uncut portions of these beds at the rear of the machine as illustrated in Figure 1A. The annular cover plate 69 is peripherally recessed to receive the swinging lever carrier ring 31. The swing lever retaining ring 44 is mounted on a peripherally recessed upper portion of the swing lever carrier ring 31, these parts being secured together and to the annular cover plate 69 by means of bolts 1l and the cover plate being, in turn, bolted to the einher-presser bed 23 by means of further bolts 12.

Supported from the machine bed 34 by means of supporting posts such as that indicated at 13 in Figure 1 is a circular housing 14 for the swing lever cam ring 43. Located in the top of the housing 14 is a circular casting 15 which serves to support mechanism carrying stops for the yarn feeders to be hereinafter described. In addition, the casting 15 is made with a stepped formation providing an annular ledge 16 adapted to carry segmental plates 11 used for the purpose of supporting the superimposed series of rings 89, 31 and 44 nxed upon the sinker-presser bed 23. Each of the segmental supporting plates 11 is tenoned at 18 on its underside to locate it between the casting 15 and the swing lever retaining ring 44, the plate being bolted by means of bolts 18 to these parts to ensure rigidity of the sinkerpresser bed 23 and its associated parts.

Operation of the swing Zever cam ring The oscillatory swing lever cam ring 43 is operable by suitable gearing, including gear teeth on ring 43, pinion Sii, vertical shaft 8l and bevel pinion 82 (Figure 1A) from a continuously rotatable cam shaft 238. To this shaft is secured a gear 29| arranged in mesh with a gear 292 on the main cam shaft 2 I8, the arrangement being such as to obtain a speed of the shaft 298 half that of the shaft 2l8. Secured to the shaft 290 is a track cam 293 in which is formed a cam groove 284. Engaging in the groove 294 is a roller 295 which is carried by an arm 296 fixed to a rack slide 291 suitably mounted in the machine framing. To effect the necessary reciprocatory movement, a pinion 298, arranged in mesh with the rack slide 291, is rigidly secured upon a shaft 289 to which is also secured a bevel gear 308. The gear 30D engages the bevel pinion 82 secured upon the lower end of the vertical shaft 8i. By these means oscillatory movement is imparted to the swing lever cam ring 43. As is common 1n full-fashioned knitting machines, a clutch operable to stop the reciprocatory movement during narrowing and widening movements, is provided but is not shown.

Yam feeding means The machine is equipped with a plurality of independently operable yarn carriers, such as 83 (Figures l and 4) say eight-five of which may be used for supplying ground yarns for conventional knitting operations whilst the remaining three are splicing yarn carriers. These carriers 83 are arranged for oscillatory movement about the axis a of the machine. The upper ends 84 of the carriers 83 are disposed one above another, and are so formed that they extend rst outwardly from these ends and thence downwards. To the lower end 85 of each yarn carrier is adjustably attached an inwardly inclined feeding element 8B for laying the yarn in the sinker throats. The downwardly extending portions of the yarn carriers 83 are disposed at progressively greater distances radially from the axis a of the machine, the carrier nearest to this axis having its upper end lowermost and the upper ends of the remaining carriers, in order, being at progressively higher elevations. As a consequence of this arrangement the yarn carriers can, of course, be oscillated independently without the yarn feeding elements 86 of the yarns supplied thereby fouling one another. The upper end 84 of each yarn carrier 83 has attached toits underside a pinion 81 from which depends a tubular shaft 88. These shafts are of respectively different diameters and arranged to t or nest compactly one within another. To enable the diameters of the tubular shafts 88 to be restricted the said shafts are arranged in two groups, one of which is iitted into the upper end of a central vertical xed shaft 89, whilst the other is similarly tted into a bossed bracket 98 (Figure 1A) disposed above the fixed shaft. The pinions 81 with the attached ends 84 of the yarn carriers 83 are therefore disposed one above another in a bank between the ixed shaft 89 and the bossed bracket 98. Arranged in mesh with each pinion 81 is a sector gear Si which, when oscillated, imparts corresponding oscillatory movement to the pinion. The sector gears 3l are disposed one above another in the respectively different horizontal planes occupied by the corresponding pinions 81 and are suitably spaced apart by means of spacing pieces 92. These pieces 92 are formed, as also are the upper end portions 84 of the yarn carriers attached to the pinions, with yarn-guiding slots 93. Hardened pegs 94 extending transversely across the slots 93 are provided for guiding the yarns and also maintaining the latter within the slots during oscillatory movements of the yarn carriers. For laying desired yarns the yarn carriers 83 are operated selectively by selective actuation of the sector gears 9i. For this purpose there is provided in conjunction with the said gears a V-shaped selecting lever 95 which, as shown in Figure 4, is formed with inwardly curved operative ends 9E and is selectively movable heightwise into one of the horizontal planes occupied by the sector gears 9|. The said inwardly curved operative ends 96 are disposed for action respectively upon opposite sides of pivoted arms 91 upon which the sector gears are formed. Thus, by moving the selecting lever 95 to the required plane by means later to be describedl and then imparting thereto oscillatory movement it is caused to act rst on one side and then the other of the appropriate sector gear 9|, thereby imparting movement to the sector gear and hence also to the corresponding yarn carrier 83 first in one direction and then in the opposite direction. The space between the inwardly curved operative ends 96 of the V-shaped selecting lever 95 is suiicient to allow the latter, whenever returned to a central neutral position preparatory to movement heightwise into another plane, to avoid contact with sector gear arms 91 disposed at the extremitiesboth right hand and left hand-of their movements. The selecting lever 95 is provided with an elongated vertical boss 98 which is bushed at opposite ends and mounted slidably upon a xed vertical shaft 99 constituting the pivot of the said lever. The shaft 99 is xed at its lower end into an upper machine casting |00 and in the bracket 90 at its upper end. In the tail end of the V-shaped selecting lever 95 is formeda hole in whichis secured a vertical operating rod |0| the upper end of which is connected to the elongated vertical boss 98 by means of a connecting plate |02 (Figure 1A). The operating rod 20| is permanently engaged between inwardly directed ends of a forked lever |03 (Figure 4) adapted to be oscillated from a control lever 30| (see Figure 34) through the medium of a shaft |04 having resilient action in both directions by reason of the provision of springs |05 and collars |05` so that although the shaft |04 has a movement of a constant distance in either direction, the yarn carrier 83 may have varied angular travel, according to the di'erent positions of the yarn carriers stops.

For operating the shaft |04, there is provided a stud 302 (Figure 34) which is xed at its upper end to the said shaft and at its lower end to a control lever 30|. The last mentioned lever is in turn secured to the upper end of a spindle 303 mounted for turning movement in a bearing in a bracket 304 and also in a bearing 305. To the lower end of the spindle 303 is rigidly secured the fulcrum end of a lever 306 the opposite end of which latter is' furnished with a roller 301 adapted to be operated upon by a rotary face cam 308 secured upon the continuously rotatablecam shaft 290.

Welt forming and picot mechanism This mechanism includes, as shown in Figures l and 29, a horizontally disposed annular Weltpicot bed |01 arranged concentrically within the needle bed I and a segmental portion of which is cut to provide therein radial grooves |00 spaced according to the spacing of the needles 3. The welt-picot bed |01 is mounted upon stepped supporting and locating portion of a casting |09 which is in turn secured upon the centre shaft 80 of the machine head. Within alternate radial grooves |08 cut in the welt-picot bed |01 are located two companion instruments ||0 adapted for operation conjointly. These pairs of instruments are for forming a welt. Single instruments are located in the intervening grooves |08 for the transfer of sinker loops. The instruments |I0 and are formed with upstanding operating butts ||2 and ||3 respectively. For engagement with the operating butts ||2 and I3 there are' provided actuating elements I|4 and H5, there being one element ||4 for each pair of instruments |I0 and one element ||5 for each instrument III. 'I'he actuating elements I|4 and ||5 are fulcrumed at ||0 between their ends, the lower ends being forked for engagement with the operating butts ||2 and ||3, whilst the upper ends are appropriately formed for engagement by vertically movable cam means whereby the elements are rocked to impart horizontal movement to the'instruments. The actuating elements, moreover, are of two forms having their upper ends in respectively different planes heightwise. The elements ||4 with upper ends in the lower plane alternate with elements I |5 having their upper ends in the higher plane.

The fulcrum seating I I6 engaging the rounded portions I|1 of the elements II4 and ||5 consists of a circular sectioned rib formed on the casting |09. For holding down the welt-picot instruments ||0 and III and for maintaining the elements I|4 and I l5 in their operative positions the said elements are `formed with protuberances I|8 which are arranged in engagement'with a concavity ||9 formed concentrically with respect to the rib ||5 on the casting |09. Attached to this casting is a partially tricked ring |20 through the tricks in which the elements ||4 and ||5 extend for engagement at their lower ends with the welt-picot instruments. The lower end of the casting |09 seats in an annular recess formed adjacent lto the radially grooved upper face of the welt-'picot bed |01.

The aforementioned vertically movable means for rocking the actuating elements consist of two pairs of spaced rings disposed in diierent planes heightwise. Thus, the ball-shaped ends |2| of the elements ||4 are located between rings |22 and |23 attached to a flanged boss |24 by screws |25, the said boss being slotted to accommodate a roller |26 (Figure 1A) arranged in engagement with a slotted portion of a bell crank lever |21. This lever is furnished with a pin |28 located in a vertical slot |29 formed in a slide |30 housed in a radially slotted portion |3| ofthe welt-picot bed |01 (see Figure 1A). The slide |30 is in turn formed with a vertically slotted part |32 which is engaged with an operating rod |33 adapted to be actuated from the main controlling means of the machine by means of a lever 3|0 which is fulcrumed at 3|| and is jointed at 3|2 to the operating rod |33 in the manner depicted in Figure 32. A roller 3|3 carried by the upper end of the lever 3 l 0 is arranged to contact a group of cams 225 (Figure 5) which are slidably mounted on the main cam shaft 2|8. The reference numerals 3|4, 3|5 and 3| 6 indicate a nest of concentric shafts to any one of which is secured an arm such as 3I1by means of which the group I of cams 225 is shiftable axially whenever it is required to impart an appropriate movement tothe lever 3 I0 for the purpose of moving the welt-picot unit up or down, through the mediumof theY operating rod |33, and the bell crank lever |21. By reason of .this construction the welt-picot; unit can be'moved up and down heightwise, accord' ing to requirements, whilst maintaining engage` ment of the rod |33A with the slotted parli.` |32 and without disturbance of the relationship-of the lever |21 with the'ilanged boss |24. YThe ends |34 of the elements I|5 are located betweenrings |35 and |36'attached to a boss |31 by screws. |38 this boss being movable up Vand down by a lever 3|81(-Figure 32) whichis'fulcrumed on shaft 3|9 and 1s furnished at its opposite end'with a roller 

